You can watch from the boat or interact with these playful marine mammals as you swim and snorkel alongside them in the water. Hear informative live commentary and enjoy hot drinks and muffins on board. Tour operates during summer months from November to May. The interaction is as unobtrusive as possible and they do not want to alter their behaviour. What a magical experience.
You must be fit and healthy, both mentally and physically to take part in the swimming portion. Swimming involves contact with cold water (average temperature in the Bay of Plenty during the summer is 22C) which can trigger certain conditions and cause heightened stress. It is your personal responsibility to inform the crew or the skipper of any medical conditions. Due to the layout and access to the vessel, if you are unable to walk onto the boat without aid, then unfortunately they are not able to take you on tour. However, if you have limited mobility and arrange for your own assistance to accompany you on and off the vessel, you are more than welcome to join. Contact if you have any questions concerning limited mobility or wheelchair access.
Arrive at 8.30am for the Dolphin Encounter which will depart at 9am promptly. The traffic can be heavy in Tauranga during the summer months, please make sure you plan accordingly.
There is plenty of free all day parking at Tauranga Bridge Marina.
The NZIFF 2023 programming team attends film festivals around the world to bring audiences in Aotearoa the very best of global cinema, with the Auckland programme featuring 129 full-length films and seven short film collections, with films hailing from 39 countries, including Uganda, Senegal, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Estonia, Jordan, Iran, Brazil, and of course Aotearoa. The films will screen in six venues and cinemas in Auckland from 19 July to 6 August with the festival rolling out to 15 regions across the motu. The 2023 programme comprises features, Cannes Film Festival winners, documentaries, shorts, retrospectives, films for kids, animation, and the ‘incredibly strange’. Nine films are celebrating their world premiere and all films are making their New Zealand premiere at NZIFF 2023.
The 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia will be on a huge scale. It’s set to become the most-attended women’s sporting event in history, with over a million tickets already sold.
Matariki is a time where people, whānau, and communities gather together to remember the year that has passed, to celebrate the present, and to plan for the next year. It is a time to remember our loved ones who are no longer with us, to feast and celebrate with our relatives and friends, and to look towards the future and the hope of a season full of bounty.